


I thought I'd only see you in my dreams

by im_upset_3000



Series: Finding Forever [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adventures, Angst, Attempt at Humor, Big Brother Jack, Couch Cuddles, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I Tried, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I love these two idiots with all my hearts, I'm Bad At Tagging, Jack being Jack, Jealous Martha, Martha and Rose becoming friends, Nightmares, Not s3 Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Doomsday Reunion AU, Protective Doctor, Rescue, Team TARDIS, Team as Family, Teary Fluff, Telepathy, Time Lady Rose, Torture, the Doctor being a dork, there's like tons of fluff, who put a puppy in a time lord suit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2019-08-02 14:18:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 16,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16306802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/im_upset_3000/pseuds/im_upset_3000
Summary: The Doctor wasn't in the best position he'd ever been in.  It definitely wasn't the worst, maybe third worst, not counting that time with the Sycorax on Arcadis or that time where he got all the blood sucked out of him in a hospital on the moon and died.  It had started such a normal day too.  Well, normal for him anyway.*Temporary Hiatus*





	1. Well this was unexpected

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is my first attempt at a fic so please put up with any mistakes. Feedback and Kudos are appreciated!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is set sometime after Human Nature/The Family of Blood just fyi.
> 
> Enjoy!

The Doctor wasn't in the best position he'd ever been in. It definitely wasn't the worst, maybe third worst, not counting that time with the Sycorax on Arcadis or that time where he got all the blood sucked out of him in a hospital on the moon and died. It had started as such a normal day too. Well, normal for him anyway.

This morning they had landed on a planet named Loea, a pristine, well-run, normal planet. As usual, he and Martha went out to explore. After snooping around a bit, they heard about a shady corporation who might be responsible for abducting various tourists for experimentation, so, naturally, they had to investigate further.

They got into the building by sonicing the back door and had neither seen nor heard anyone so far. He had given the sonic to Martha to use on a particularly hard door that was going to take a few minutes to open, and went to investigate a crashing sound, when something hard hit him in the back of the head and he hit the floor with a smack. The last thing he felt before everything went black was cold metal clicking into place around his wrists.

****************************

The Doctor woke up with a groan and tried to rub his eyes when he found he couldn’t move his arms. In fact, he couldn’t move anything. Then he remembered what happened and had a brief moment of panic until he remembered that Martha was still in the building and she had the sonic. Unless they got her too… He looked around the room to the stark white walls and stainless steel tables, like the one he was currently strapped down on. The straps were leather, and so tight he could feel them digging into the skin on his wrists and ankles. There were also straps restraining his forehead, chin, elbows, chest, and knees. And, to top it all off, he was gagged.

They really overdid it, he thought. But before he could think about anything else, the doors opened and three of the native, blue-skinned aliens walked in. Two were wearing lab coats covered in blood - no, fresh blood - and the third, a woman, was obviously in charge.

“Now what do we have here,” the woman inquired. Then, coming closer, cooed, “Oh he’s a pretty one isn’t he,” while running an ice cold hand down the side of his face. He bristled in obvious discomfort and she laughed, “Oh, this is going to be fun. What are you then? Human?” She nodded at the alien man next to her who held up a scanner to his eye. The Doctor flinched away from the bright, shining, red light as the scanner kept buzzing for a few seconds before beeping. The man looked at the results with disbelief then said,

“It’s a Time Lord!” 

The reply that came next made the Doctor's hearts stop.

“Another one?”


	2. The Other One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are getting this a few days early because I felt so bad leaving you with such a short chapter. Ten's gonna go through lot of pain in this one but it gets fluffy soon I promise.

“Another one?”

All of a sudden all the air in the room seemed to vanish, the world started spinning, and his hearts felt like they were going to beat out of his chest. The walls felt like they were closing in on him. Another one? Another Time Lord? But I killed them; I killed them all. was all he could think. Everything came back into focus just in time to hear the other alien remark,

“For being an extinct species, there sure seems to be a lot left!” All three of them laughed, then the woman corrected,

“Of course, the other one is a Time Lady, not a Time Lord.” Then, turning to gaze at him, leaned down and ruffled his hair saying “You two would make such a cute couple too. It’s a shame you’re never going to leave here alive.” 

She was right he thought, he couldn’t get out of here unless Martha came and helped him. The straps were all secure and he couldn’t talk his way out of this one. His thoughts were interrupted by a needle being stabbed into his leg. Fire started running through his veins from the point of the injection, and he heard distantly,

“This is specially engineered from our Time Lady to maximize pain without causing much damage. It’s a good way to control spirit.”  
And then he couldn’t hear anymore because the pain was burning through his whole body, the lights were blinding him. He could feel the freezing metal against his back and and the biting pain of the restraints; hear every movement amplified by a thousand. He was writhing around, testing every inch of the straps to see if there was a give. But there wasn’t, and the pain kept coming and burning and drowning out every thought in mental screams of agony and he could feel water on the table near his temples.Then he realized those were from his own tears that continued to stream from his eyes from the pain. After what felt like hours,the three torturers left the room and turned the light off behind them. Suddenly the darkness was pressing in on him and he felt scared and alone, like a small child in the dark home by himself. But he wasn’t alone. There was another Time Lord in the building, and he was going to save her. With this thought, his eyes slid shut and he mercifully passed out.

********************************

The first thing he felt when he came to was a hand gently caressing his forehead. He kept his eyes closed and leaned farther into the touch (if that was possible). At his name softly being called, he forced his eyes open to see Martha next to him; her eyes wet with unshed tears. 

“I saw what they did to you,” she whispered. “After a while, you just went limp and I thought you were- ” at this, she trailed off and looked towards the floor. The Doctor knew what the end of that sentence would’ve been, and realizing the gag was no longer in his mouth, said weakly,

“Well, I’m not. I’m okay. Whatever they stuck into me doesn’t seem to have any lasting effects.” He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile and she nodded and got to work unlatching the rest of the straps binding him to the table. After he was free, she moved over and helped him sit up. It felt like all his energy had been drained from his body, and he struggled to move. Martha shiftedso his arm was over her shoulders and helped support him as he walked.

“You know, for someone so skinny you sure are heavy,” she remarked, earning a smirk in response. They headed towards the door before the Doctor croaked out, already breathless from the small exertion,

“Wait. Other Time Lord. Try...try other-” he paused, gasping for breath, “Try other door.” Martha looked at him with some confusion but obediently moved them toward the inner door. They opened the door without much difficulty and walked through. The Doctor caught his breath enough to look at the other person in the room and the world stopped because there on the table, unconscious and strapped down just as he had been moments before, was Rose Tyler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to my brother who is proofreading this for me (aka I barged into his room, threw my notebook at him and told him to read).
> 
> And sorry for another cliffhanger I couldn't resist. ;)


	3. Finally Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the support and comments it means the world!

He popped out of his haze when Rose gave a tiny whimper in her sleep. He, now aided by a sudden rush of adrenaline, ran over to the table and quickly slid one arm behind Rose’s shoulders and the other one under her knees, picking her up. He managed to stumble through the building and out the back door with Martha right behind. Thankfully he had parked the TARDIS close by. 

He muttered a quick, “Thanks, girl” to the TARDIS when he entered and found the med bay had moved to directly adjacent the console room. He gently laid Rose on the bed that was currently propped up into a sitting position, and then, the rush fading, collapsed into the chair next to her. 

When Martha came over to see what she could do, the Doctor waved her off saying, “She’ll be fine. But, just, it’s personal. Could you-could you just leave us for a few hours? Please?” She nodded and walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. The Doctor exhaled a shaky breath, and hung his head in exhaustion. It’d been a heck of a day. He raised his head slowly and turned it to look at Rose. Her face was paler and more defined than before and her arms were covered in scars and still-healing wounds; no doubt from whatever they had been doing to her.

He felt a sudden angry urge to storm back in there and blow the whole operation to hell. But he wasn’t strong enough now, and he wasn’t leaving Rose. Not this time. Not ever again. He felt the anger give way to tears and he didn’t try to hold them back this time. Every emotion he’d been holding back since the day he lost her spilled out, and soon he was sobbing.

As the tears gradually faded and his shoulders stopped shaking, he realized how tired and exhausted he really was. He leaned forward to lay his head on her lap and smiled softly. He finally felt like he was home.

****************************

When Rose woke up, she expected to be strapped down to a table and gagged like every other time she had woken up in the past few weeks. What she did not expect was to wake up in the TARDIS’ med bay with the Doctor’s head on her lap. She held her breath as she looked around to confirm where she was and pinched herself to be sure she wasn’t dreaming. When she finished her search of the room, she let tears of relief fill her eyes. She was home.

Her gaze focused back on the sleeping person next to her as she gave him a fond smile and said softly, “Did you miss me, Doctor?” She reached down and started to stroke his ever-messy soft brown locks then whispered into his ear, “Because I missed you.” She leaned over to press a soft kiss to his forehead before leaning back and letting out a sigh of happiness. She made it back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I need comments. About anything. I'm lonely.


	4. Typical Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Rose are reunited and fluff ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FLUFF WE ALL NEEDED

The Doctor woke up for the second time that day with a hand caressing his forehead. He, once again, exhaled and leaned into the touch.

“Doctor...” came a voice from above him. Rose! His head shot up to meet her eyes for a moment before quickly pulling her into a tight hug. When he felt her arms wrap around him and pull her even closer to him he exhaled and buried his head into her shoulder. Through all the joyful thoughts going through his head, three words bubbled to the surface, and he knew he couldn’t hold them back any longer. He pulled back from the hug and looked up to meet her smiling hazel-brown eyes. 

“I love you“ he blurted out. 

Her smile widened, and she replied without a moment’s hesitation, “I love you too.” 

After a few moments, without his gaze ever leaving her’s, he tenderly reached up to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, cupped her cheek with his hand, and closed the gap between them. He was delighted when she met him halfway and their lips pressed together. The kiss was slow and gentle and sweet, and he could feel the pain and heartbreak of their past start to fade away. They broke apart to breathe, and she leaned forward to rest her forehead on his.

“Long time no see,” he said cheekily, earning a laugh in response. Oh, he had missed that laugh.

“Yeah, well, been busy you know,” came the reply.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” 

They sat for a few seconds, enjoying the silence before the Doctor stood up a yawned, “Scoot. I wanna sit by you.” Rose rolled her eyes at the bluntness of the request but moved her legs back to let him sit down. Soon they were both sitting cross-legged facing each other on the bed.

“Um, so I uh…” he paused, not sure how Rose would take the news. “I uh, there’s someone else traveling with me.” Rose felt a pang of jealousy before pushing it back down.

“That’s good,” she replied, not fully believing what she said. Apparently, neither could he as he replied,

“Is it?”

“Yeah, it is. You shouldn’t travel alone.” 

He looked relieved as he responded with, “That’s good. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened with Sarah Jane. Althoooooough, you are cute when you’re angry.” 

He grinned and ducked away from the pillow that flew towards his head. He scoffed in mock offense and grumbled sarcastically, “You’ve been back for five minutes, and you’re already attacking me. Typical human.” At this Rose’s smile faded into a smaller one and she softly whispered,

“Doctor?” He switched from happy to concerned in an instant. Did he say something wrong? Stir up a bad memory?

“Yes Rose? What’s wrong?”

“I'm not a human. Not anymore.” Now he was more confused. Not a human? She saw the confusion on his face, gave a fond sigh, and grabbed his wrist to bring his hand up to her chest. She held it there for a moment before he felt two steady heartbeats thudding inside her chest. He gazed down at his hand, then back up at her in wonder.

“You’re-a-what-now?” He voice came out a little higher than normal, and she smiled at his befuddled expression. “You’re a-you’re the Time Lady?” In his joy to see Rose, he realized he had forgotten all about the other Time Lord. 

She nodded at him and softly said, “I promised I’d stay with you forever, and now I can.” He sat frozen for a moment, processing all the new information before letting out a whoop of joy and bounding to his feet to run to all four walls of the room and then tackling Rose backward onto the bed and collapsing breathless.

“Rose, that’s amazing! Brilliant! Fantastic, even!” Then, his tone getting more serious, “I’m not wasting any more time. If you’re going to spend forever with me, will - will you marry me?”

“Get off me you daft alien I can’t breathe,” came the breathless response from under him. He quickly apologized and rolled off her…right onto the floor. He popped right back up, hair messier than before, to find Rose hysterically laughing at him. On top of that, the lights flashed a few times, meaning even the TARDIS was laughing at him.

“Is that a yes?” he asked hopefully.

“Yes! Of course yes!” she managed to get out between laughs. The Doctor laughed with joy while standing up and picking Rose up off the bed - all his exhaustion gone - to spin her around in a hug. He laughed and put her back down before flopping down next to her, panting.

“Do you want breakfast? I’m hungry.” She nodded back and he grabbed her hand smiling and whispered, “Allons-y!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Martha finds out that Rose is on board.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	5. Mental E-Mail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose discovers how to use her new telepathic abilities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not super happy with this chapter but whatever.

They sprinted down the hallway hand-in-hand, and he realized that in his haste he had forgotten where the TARDIS had moved the kitchen last. But he didn’t have to worry long as lights flashed on to guide them to it. As they arrived, Rose dropped his hand to lean on the counter, panting. He remembered that Rose was still weak and probably shouldn’t be dashing about, so he quickly helped her to a stool before he moved to start cooking. Rose watched him bustle around with his normal frantic energy with a fond smile on her face. After a few minutes, the pancakes were cooking, and he came over to lean on the counter facing her.

 

“So, since you’re a Time Lady now, you have some telepathic abilities. You can even mentally talk to other Time Lords.”

 

“So we could talk to each other?” Rose questioned, curious about her new abilities.

 

“Yep. For Time Lords who don’t know each other, the range is about a block, but depending on how strong the relationship with the other Time Lord is, it could be thousands of miles.”

 

Rose smiled excitedly and asked, “So how do you do it?” He held up one finger, signaling for her to wait, then closed his eyes. She watched in intrigue as his brow furrowed in concentration, then she felt a small tingle at the base of her skull and heard his voice simultaneously far away and right next to her, fuzzy but surprisingly clear.

 

“ _Now I’m a bit rusty, but I think it worked_ ,” He looked up to her for confirmation, and she nodded.

 

“Can you hear my thoughts?” she asked hesitantly.

 

“ _Nope, only direct thoughts to me,_ ” came through the link. Even mentally, she could still hear the tone of the thought and him obnoxiously popping his p in nope.

 

“So how do I talk to you?” she urged.

 

“ _Just imagine sending a mental e-mail for now. It’ll get easier as you do it more._ ” Rose closed her eyes and imagined what he said, and after a moment of concentration she opened her eyes and raised her head to see if it worked.

 

He grinned and sent back, “ _You’re a quick learner! My brilliant Rose Tyler. You’ll have it down in no time!_ ” With this, he turned back to the stove to flip the pancakes.

 

“Doctor?” He quickly turned around, question evident in his eyes. “I love you,” she voiced. It hadn’t really hit him before now. The past few hours had been a blur, but he realized it now. Rose was back, she was a Time Lord, and she was his. Forever. He couldn’t help being stupidly happy or stop his face lighting up like a child’s on Christmas at her declaration.

 

He gleefully responded, “I love you too.” They stayed there for a few moments, both wearing stupid happy smiles before a timer beeped and the moment was lost.

 

“I thought I smelled something good in here,” came an unfamiliar voice from the doorway and Martha walked in. “Mornin’ Doctor.”

 

“Morning,” came the Doctor’s reply. Martha didn’t notice anything amiss with the reply, but Rose noted the slightly higher pitch and an undertone of nervousness.

 

“ _Doctor, I’m not going to fight her_.” She sent to him reassuringly and held back a laugh when he jumped a little when he received it, still not used to someone else talking in his head. Rose was surprised at the ease with which she sent the message. She almost didn’t have to think about it.

 

“ _That’s not what I’m worried about,_ ” came his reply, “ _Well, maybe It was a little bit._ ” Rose came back to reality when the other girl (she didn’t remember the Doctor mentioning her name) asked her a little stiffly but not unkindly,

 

“Are you feeling better this morning? It’s good to see you up. I’m Martha by the way. Martha Jones. I have a feeling the Doctor didn’t mention me.”

 

“No, he did not,” Rose replied with a smile, “And I am feeling better, thank you. My names R-”

 

“Aaaaaand it’s ready!” the Doctor very deliberately and somewhat frantically interrupted, setting down the plate of steaming banana pancakes on the counter in front of them. Both women looked at each other with equal glances of confusion before simultaneously shrugging and turning back to the food. Martha moved to sit down next to Rose, and the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“ _Doctor. What are you doing._ ” Rose shot over the link with a stern fondness.

 

“ _Who, me? Nothing,_ ” he replied a little too quickly.

 

Rose rolled her eyes and Martha voiced, “There! You two are doing it again, just like when I came in. Like you’re talking without speaking or something.”

 

Rose and the Doctor glanced at each other before the Doctor said, “That’s exactly what we’re doing.”

 

“Well that’s rude. Wait, it is?” Martha asked with a mix of excitement and confusion.

 

“Yes, Rose is a Time Lord too, so we can communicate telepathically,” the Doctor answered, then, his words catching up to him, froze and waited for a reaction.

 

“Wait, what? Rose, like _the_ Rose? The Rose you’re always talking about?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so hoped you liked it comments are always appreciated.
> 
> If you guys haven't read my one chapter Eleven/Rose fic If Only for a Moment please do, although you may want tissues handy.


	6. Yes, that Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small argument, some whump, some angst, and a ton of fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for the support! It means so much to me and I'm glad you're enjoying my crap writing.

Rose was shocked to hear that Martha knew about her. The Doctor had rarely talked about his former companions, and if so only for a moment before redirecting the conversation. “Doctor,” she said softly before gently reaching across the counter to lay her hand over his. He automatically shifted his hand to grab hers before looking up to give her a small but heartbreaking smile.

Martha honestly didn’t know what to think. One moment she had been rescuing the Doctor from some evil hospital thing, and the next he had found his soulmate/best friend/girlfriend who somehow managed to get back from the parallel universe and is also now a Time Lady/Lord whatever. She didn’t know whether to feel happy that they found each other, jealous of how close they were, or mad that she was never going to have a chance with the Doctor again. When she watched the Doctor slide into the seat next to Rose, put his arm around her, and her snuggle into his side, she could feel whatever it was it clouding her judgment so she excused herself and headed back to her room. The Doctor watched her leave with a concerned expression.

“I hope she comes around,” he mumbled worriedly into Rose’s hair.

“I’m sure she will,” Rose replied reassuringly, “She seems to care a lot about you, so having me come out of nowhere was probably a bit of a shock.” 

A few moments of comfortable silence followed before the Doctor spoke up, “So…how’d you get back anyway? And a Time Lady?” then, his voice getting softer, “How long was it for you?” 

Rose let out a humorless laugh and responded, “Well it was about a year and a half when the Torchwood on the parallel earth found when a small rift would open between earths, and residual Bad Wolf energy changed me into a Time Lady.”

It was a few moments before the Doctor spoke, his voice ridden with guilt and self-loathing, “I’m sorry Rose. I’m so so sorry. I should have double-checked. I thought I pulled all the Time Vortex back out of you.”

“It’s okay Doctor. You were regenerating, then you had to fight off the Sycorax,” Rose sighed, her smile not quite reaching her eyes, “Now I get to spend forever with you.” With that, they turned back to the food and finished eating.

The Doctor felt guilt crashing down upon him in waves. Now because of his mistakes, Rose was doomed to live a life like his, a lonely, bitter life watching everyone you know or care for whither and die. But she had him, and at that moment he made a vow never to leave her side and to protect and care for her with every fiber of each of his regenerations. His beautiful human-now-Time-Lady who defied fate and the will of two whole universes to get back to him. He let his eyes fill with tears as he pulled Rose closer to his side and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He realized he hadn’t loved or been loved this much in his whole, long, bittersweet, amazing life.

****************************

After Martha had finished assessing her emotions and thoughts, she left her room to wander around the TARDIS and hopefully encounter the Doctor by himself. Although that seemed unlikely since Rose had been glued to his side ever since the moment he happened upon her in that desolate hospital, and it looked like neither of them wanted to change that. She had strolled through the library, kitchen, pool room (she didn’t even know they had a pool), and had been ambling through the theatre when she heard faint background noise coming from a nearby room and followed it towards the hallway. She managed to locate the room from which the noise was originating, but paused in the doorway (as jealous as she was), not willing to spoil the scene in front of her.

She had found them in the lounge/living room with a movie on that appeared to be about Spider-man, but with an actor she didn’t recognize. Rose was sitting in the center of the couch with the Doctor’s head on her lap, his gaze centered on her’s with his lanky body spread horizontally across the coach ending with his legs splayed awkwardly over the arm. Rose’s hand was gently combing through his hair, and he was gazing back up at her with an adoring smile and practically purring at the touch. Neither of them were paying any attention to the movie.

Martha felt an angry flare of jealousy rise up. How dare Rose come in here and disrupt her and the Doctor’s relationship! Rose had only known the Doctor for as long for as long as she had and had somehow managed to capture both of the Doctor’s hearts in one fell swoop. 

She was about to burst in and interrupt their moment when the Doctor spoke softly, “Have I ever told you I’m the luckiest man in the universe to have you Rose Tyler?” Rose blushed and giggled, only stopping to lovingly press a feather-light kiss to his forehead and smooth it over with her thumb. He beamed back up at her looking like a love-struck puppy, and she wasn’t looking back at him much differently.

Martha deflated and sighed. Maybe she never really had a chance. Maybe since before the moment she met him, his hearts had already belonged to Rose Tyler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love these adorable idiots with all my heart(s) and I will until the day I die.
> 
> Thanks for reading and keep a look out for everyone's favorite flirt to possibly show up in a few chapters!


	7. Stop it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor (literally) runs into an old friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um hehe...hi guys! 
> 
> So my promise to post once a week just went right out the window (I do have an excuse), and I owe you all an apology, so here it is.
> 
> I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. 
> 
> ;)
> 
> Anyway my excuse is school and robotics got like super busy all of a sudden and I had a hard time writing this one chapter two or three after this one, so feel free to yell at me in the comments.
> 
> (For those of you wondering this is like an season 3 AU where Ten and Martha already met Jack ok because reasons)

The Doctor had just stopped on a planet to run some errands, a supposedly easy task, and was now the object of a high-speed chase for something he hadn’t done yet. Not that he was complaining. He loved the adrenaline and wind on his face, but it didn’t feel right without Rose’s hand in his and her excited giggle as they ran. Still, he was glad he made her stay in the TARDIS for this trip. He just got her back and wasn’t going to lose her again anytime soon. 

He quickly turned the corner and sprinted for the nearest crosswalk intersection, failing to hear the commotion coming from the other direction. He glanced back to see how close his pursuers were and ran smack dab into someone else. The impact knocked them both down to sitting positions, and he was about to get up and hastily resume his run when the other person spoke.

“Doctor?” Upon hearing his name his head jerked to look at the man opposite him, and his mouth dropped open.

“Captain?” he asked, already knowing the answer. They heard yelling behind them and simultaneously looked behind them to see that their pursuers were almost upon them, gave each other matching grins, and said: “Run!”.

They dashed off, the Doctor in the lead, and burst through the awaiting TARDIS doors with a bang. They stood in the doorway of the console room panting for a few moments before starting to laugh.

“Always good to see you, Jack,” the Doctor panted before Jack engulfed him in a hug which he gladly returned. A pair of footsteps came running in from the hallway accompanied by a voice.

“Doctor! Are you alri - Jack!” Martha gushed, running over to hug him as the Doctor pouted and mumbled something along the lines of why is Jack more important than my safety while fiddling with some levers on the console.

“Well I couldn’t stay away from such a beautiful lady for long could I?” Jack flirted, taking her hand and kissing it while Martha giggled. 

“Stop iiiiiiiit,” came the automatic chide from the other side of the console. Another pair of footsteps came from down the hallway, and Jack looked over at the Doctor in confusion. He smiled softly in response and predicted, “You’ll like this next bit.”

Just then Rose came into view and called out, “Doctor, you alright?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” he affirmed, then motioned over to Jack with his eyes. Rose followed his motion over to Jack in the corner and gasped.

“Jack! Hi!” 

Jack stood for a moment as if frozen before gasping, “Rosie!” and dashing over to tackle her in a hug. After the very long hug ended Jack beamed, “You know what, I’m not even going to ask. I missed you, Rosie.” 

“I missed you too,” Rose smiled back.

“Alright, that’s enough,” the Doctor called as he walked over to stand next to Rose, possessively sliding his arm around her shoulders.

Rose playfully shot back, “Are you experiencing Captain envy Doctor?”

“I was then, and I am now,” he mock-growled at Jack. Jack glanced at the Doctor’s arm around Rose’s shoulders with his eyebrows raised.

“I see you two got your heads out of the clouds finally,” he said. 

The Doctor grinned in reply, “Oh yes! We’re engaged now, isn’t that brilliant?” then his face fell a bit, and he asked, “Was it really that obvious?”

“Was it really that obvious? Yes!” Jack exclaimed, then said quieter, “Listen Doc, I knew you two had something special from the first moment I saw you and Rose together. Also, let’s not forget how you didn’t even try to hide your jealousy when Mickey or I so much as looked at Rose. It was radiating off you in waves.” Then he paused and asked, “Wait. If you’re engaged, then where’s the ring?” At hearing this, the Doctor shrunk back into himself as Rose fixed him with a glare.

“Well, I may have forgotten to get one...” he squeaked as Jack laughed.

Martha rolled her eyes in annoyance as the three of them started to excitedly talk about what they’d been up to. Why Rose was so popular was a mystery to her.

After several minutes with the three of them animatedly chatting and Martha sulking in the corner, Jack yawned and said, “Well, I should probably get some rest. I assume that my room is still here?” 

“Uhhhhh I think so,” the Doctor replied, “Not sure where though.”

“I’ll find it. Unless one of you ladies want t- ”

“-JUST GO JACK!” the Doctor hollered at Jack’s quickly disappearing form. Rose laughed at how possessive the Doctor was of his girls before tilting her head up to give him a quick kiss and giggling when he tried to pursue her lips hoping for a longer one. After a few seconds she obliged and let his mouth crash onto hers before a loud and somewhat disgusted female voice interrupted, “I’M STILL HERE YOU KNOW.”

“Sorry,” the Doctor mumbled towards the corner. Then turning back to Rose he asked holding out his hand, “Should we get out of here?” 

“Yeah.”

“Run?” 

“Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh and I changed my username to thegirlwhodreamtofthetardis but i'm not sure if it'll show up yet.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and plz feel free to yell at me or whatever. Also happy late Thanksgiving to those of you reading from the US!


	8. The Moon Paradox

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten and Rose cuddle. Jack continues being himself. Martha starts getting over Ten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's another chapter because I didn't post for a month.

The Doctor walked down the TARDIS corridor with a bounce in his step and hands in his pockets, whistling an upbeat New Earth tune. Why wouldn’t he be happy? His best friends were traveling with him, Rose was back, he had the best ship in the world, and there was the whole universe to explore. Speaking of exploring...he popped his head into Rose’s room and beamed back at her when she looked up from her book with a tongue-touched smile. Those smiles were his favorite. 

He loudly plopped down on the bed next to her, brought his feet up onto the bed, crossed his ankles, tucked his hands behind his head, leaned back against the headboard and asked, “Soooooooo Rose Tyler, you fancy a trip?” 

“Absolutely!” Rose replied, glancing sideways at him and setting her book page-side down onto the bed, “Do I get to pick or is it a surprise?”

“I’ll let you pick, seeing as you haven’t got to in a while. I could even start teaching you how to fly the old girl if you want.”

“You’d let me fly her?” Rose gasped.

“I don’t see why not, seeing as you’re a Time Lady now, and you are-” at this, he started stuttering insecurely, “-do you - are you living here? I mean, we never talked about it before, but I assumed-”

“Of course I’m living here Doctor,” she reassured him. “I spent a year and a half without you, and I never wanna do it again.” The end of her sentence was thick with emotion, and so he instinctively pulled her into a tight hug and whispered back to her, his own voice getting slightly teary,

“I’m so so sorry. I’m never going to leave you ever again. Promise.” After a few seconds, Rose pulled away and nodded, wiping a tear away with the back of her hand. 

She let out a small laugh and sniffed, “I’m a mess, aren’t I.”

“Yes, but you’re my mess. Now come here.” He gently pulled her back in and let Rose snuggle up to his side, her head on his chest listening for his reassuring double heartbeat as always. “Now then, what are you reading?” he asked warmly, reaching over to pick up the book from where it lay on the bed while still keeping the other arm firmly wrapped around Rose. “Oh, Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. That’s a classic!” he exclaimed upon seeing the cover. Then, looking down at Rose, inquired, “Do you remember when we met him?”

“Yeah, that was the first time you called me beautiful,” she responded, raising her head just enough to look into his eyes. “Even when you tried to cover it up right afterward, it’s not something easily forgotten.”

“It was just a week after I met you. It just slipped out, and I tried to direct your attention anywhere other than what I just said,” the Doctor remembered, a fond smile on his face. “I wasn’t too great at that kind of stuff back in that regeneration was I?”

“I didn’t mind,” Rose sighed into his chest, slightly missing her first doctor. 

After a few minutes of silence, the Doctor looked down at his chest to make sure Rose had recovered then asked, “So, about that trip...”

Rose sat up reluctantly and thought for a moment before replying, “How about um...Yorkshire in the 1950’s? I don’t think we could run into too much trouble there.”

“Don’t underestimate me Rose Tyler,” he said with a wink.

*********************************

After an hour of trying to find the other two people on the ship (the TARDIS was being difficult and wouldn't tell them where they were), seven attempts to land at the right location, and one episode of X-Files (per Jack’s insistent request), the four of them headed out into town. They had landed in the evening and planned to eat somewhere local before wandering around the town a bit. 

Jack watched with a smile as Rose and the Doctor walked (actually it was more like bounced) down the street in front of him hand-in-hand, in their own little world as always. He watched as the Doctor pointed something out in front of them, added some sarcastic comment to make Rose laugh, then grinned back at Jack looking way too pleased with himself.  
“Maybe they are perfect for each other,” Martha sighed in resignation from where she was walking next to Jack.

“Still not over him yet, huh?” Jack asked, eyes still glued to the pair in front of him.

“I guess I’ve just kind of accepted it, but I’m still not happy about it,” she stated glumly, “There must be someone else out there for me somewhere, right?”

“I think there’s someone out there for everyone. You’ll find him one day,” Jack assured her, tearing his eyes away from them to look at the woman next to him. Martha gave him a weak smile before something else caught her eye.

“Hey Doctor, check that out,” she called up to him, motioning towards a nearby wall.

“Oh, now that’s interesting,” he muttered, looking at the thing Martha was pointing towards - a brick wall in a somewhat visible back alley with the words, “beware of the blue moon” painted in red on it. He bounded over and traced a few of the letters with his finger. “Now I wonder what this is about?” he puzzled.

“You don’t know? You must be new around here,” a voice from behind them interrupted. They spun around to see an older man leaning on a shovel. 

“Ah, yes, we’re from...out of town. Could you maybe explain this to us?” the Doctor asked. 

“Well, over the past few weeks some people on the have been collapsin’. Their minds ruined by looking at the moon for too long.” The man waved a hand, dismissing the thought, “But I don’t believe any o’ that. Probably just kids makin’ a fuss, that’s all.” 

“Erm, yes, thank you,” the Doctor replied, then turned back towards his friends with a grin on his face. “Now that’s more like it! Allons-y!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh comments and kudos are nice, and if you have any suggestions please tell me I'm very open to that stuff. Also I 'm American so any incorrect Bristish slang or historical inaccuracies I appologize for. Thanks for all the support!


	9. The Moon Paradox Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mystery deepens and the Doctor is an idiot (in more ways than one).

After asking around town, they found that several people had in fact collapsed at night over the past few weeks; their brainwaves gone.

“It’s like someone sucked their mind out!” one of the residents had told them. They had met back up at a local restaurant and started discussing their findings.

“It has to be aliens,” the Doctor decided. “The government doesn’t have enough power to do that in this time period.”

“I agree. But how are they doing it, what do they want, and how do we stop them?” Martha puzzled.

“Everyone we talked to said the affected people were all looking at the moon. So maybe there’s some kind of filter over it?” Rose chimed in.

“Ohhhh, yes a filter. That’s a good theory,” the Doctor smiled at Rose.

“They’d need to do it from somewhere local,” Jack commented. “An abandoned warehouse or office building is the only thing that could hold that much equipment.”

“Good thinking,” the Doctor replied. “We’ll start there.” 

With that, the four of them lapsed into a comfortable silence, broken only by the noise from the rest of the restaurant and the four of them eating. They sat like that for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts until the Doctor accidentally dropped his fork onto his plate, making all four of them jump. He shrank back into himself and gave an embarrassed smile as Martha fixed him with a glare. It was then that Jack noticed something interesting.

“Doc, why are you eating with your left hand?” he inquired with eyebrows raised, already knowing the answer. Not only was he eating with his left hand, his right had disappeared underneath the table.

“Erm, you see,” he started, bringing his left hand up to scratch the back of his head, “I sat down and realized I-”

“-didn’t want to stop holding Rose’s hand,” Jack finished for him.

“Is it like some kind of rule you two have to be touching at all times?” Martha asked playfully as Jack noted with pride that there wasn’t a hint of jealousy in her voice.

Rose and the Doctor glanced at each other, grinned, and simultaneously said, “Yes.” Jack and Martha both shook their heads fondly and returned to eating their food.

After they were finished, the four of them headed out into the crisp dusk air to check out the old warehouse in the far corner of the town; information kindly provided by Jack who had been chatting up the waitress. Even though the stars were shining brightly in the clear night sky, none of them dared look up in case of whatever was happening to those people happened to them. It was a fifteen-minute walk across town, and they had walked about ten of those when screams echoed from in front of them. The four of them stopped, looked at each other, then dashed headlong towards the commotion.

The Doctor rounded the corner first, then stopped dead. The other three of them running into his back, then he quickly turned back around and shepherded them back into the alley.

“Doctor, what is it?” Martha whispered urgently. In response he motioned for them to look for themselves, so she cautiously peeked around the corner to see ten or so assorted aliens, all wearing sleek dark green armor, with a navy blue star emblem near the right shoulder.

“Who are they?” Rose questioned. 

“The Idkadi, from the planet Idkadia. A spartan race who is not above pointless killing to get what they need. They conquer other planets and force all the eligible males to serve in their army by implanting kill switches in their head,” the Doctor spat, the disgust and anger evident in his voice.

“But what do they want?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know,” the Doctor responded, “and they are too smart to tell me if I go with my normal approach. I’m going to have to try something else.” 

“Especially if they know who you are,” Jack agreed. 

The Doctor leaned back against the wall for a moment before letting out a small triumphant noise and excitedly whispering, “They know who I am! Jack, that’s brilliant!” He leaned out slightly more around the wall to check how far away the Idkadi army was before reaching back to grab Rose’s hand; eyes still fixed on the approaching aliens. He squeezed her hand before calmly sprinting to the middle of the street as Jack quickly yanked Rose back into the alley so she wouldn’t follow him into the open.

“Jack,” she warned, a steel undertone in her voice.

“Rose, listen, he’s got a plan and doesn’t want us out there,” Jack tried to reason with her, “He doesn’t want you in danger.”

“And I don’t care what he thinks, I’m going with him,” Rose replied, pulling away from Jack as he sighed. Dang these two and their stubborn Time Lord selves.

He was about to try to reason with her one last time when Martha of all people laid a hand on her arm and spoke quietly, “Rose, please. You know, best of all people, that he will not let anything stop him from getting back to you. Just trust him, please. He has a plan.” At this Rose deflated and nodded, retreating farther back into the shadows of the alley and watching her idiot Time Lord address the Idkadi.

“Hello there!” he said chipperly, hands shoved in his pockets. They immediately reacted, surrounding him on all sides and pointing their guns at him. 

He stayed still, unfazed, as he continued, “Now that’s a bit rude, isn’t it? I was only saying hello.” 

A scanner was aimed at him, and someone who appeared to be the leader gruffly asked, “Results?”

“Time Lord, sir! He’s the Doctor, sir!” At this, the leader made a sharp motion with his hand, and two of the soldiers behind him marched over to roughly grab the Doctor’s arms and hold them behind his back. Rose sucked in a sharp breath when he didn’t resist, and Martha grabbed her hand, just as concerned as she was. 

“Yes, that’s me, hello!” the Doctor chirped, relishing being in control of the situation whether anyone else knew it or not.

“So you’re the Doctor. The one who saved all those planets so many times.” the leader started viciously, walking right up to the restrained Time Lord and only continuing when he was mere inches from his face, “All except your own. It’s kind of pathetic really. The last of his species, trying desperately to make up for his own failure. Except you know you will never be able to, and every time you close your eyes those crushing screams haunt you. You weren’t able to save them, and you won’t be able to save this planet either.” At the mention of his home planet, any trace of mirth disappeared from the Doctor’s eyes, replaced by cold steel and a clenched jaw.

“Then that’s where you’re wrong,” he spat, his undertone cold and dark, eyes boring into the alien in front of him like a dagger of ice making him step back in a brief moment of fear. “I’m not the last of my species, and I am going to save this planet.” Then, leaning forward as far as possible towards the leader, and slowly pronouncing every word, “And - you - can’t - stop - me.”

At this, a smirk grew on both the leader’s face, and the soldier’s behind him who appeared to be second-in-command. “Oh but I can.” The leader said smugly. He motioned to the soldiers restraining him, and the world went dark. Rose and Martha both made choked cries when the Doctor fell limply to the ground and started being dragged away, and even Jack looked ashen. 

Rose grabbed Jack’s arm and firmly stated despite having wet eyes, “We have to go after him.” 

Jack shook his head numbly and replied, “We can’t. They are keeping a watch behind them and are soldiers trained to hear any kind of enemy footsteps and detect any kind of movement. We have to trust he has a plan.” 

“Well then what do we do until something happens?” Martha asked from where she had sunken to the ground next to them, not noticing Rose freeze and go pale. Jack did, however, and quickly rushed over to steady her.

“Rose, what’s wrong?” he asked, voice laced with worry.

“I can’t hear him,” she whispered brokenly. Jack gave her a look of worried confusion, and she clarified, “In my head. Before, there was like a faint background buzz, but I knew it was the product of our link. It was...comforting, to know that he was there, even if we weren’t in the same room. But it’s gone now. I can’t hear him.” she finished quietly. 

“I’m sure it’s just because he’s unconscious,” Jack tried to reassure her, not knowing the answer himself as he pulled Rose into a hug. With that, they set back into the town to do...something and anything productive to keep their mind off the Doctor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a robotics tournament tomorrow so wish me luck!
> 
> Also thanks for all the fic support it is amazing and I love you all.


	10. The Moon Paradox Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The action gets more deadly and all of them are in danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three chapters in one week whaaaaat

The first thing the Doctor felt upon waking was two vertical pieces of metal uncomfortably digging into his back and a brief moment of panic as he recalled the last time he woke up helpless, but it faded as his vision cleared and he calmed down.  He turned his head to either side and assessed the situation. He was in an abandoned warehouse-turned-Idkadi-base with several dozen Idkadi soldiers, none of which were paying any attention to him, and instead to several control panels and a large screen in the front of the room.  He was seated, wrists crossed and tightly corded behind the support beam he was propped up against, and his ankles were bound together as well. With a few quick tugs at each of the ropes, he found the Idkadi had done their job well. Too well for his liking as he was also gagged ( _With his own tie even!  The nerve of some people._ ) with it tied around the back of his head to keep it secure, and the familiar weight of the sonic, usually in his inner pocket, was gone.  

 

 _Oh well.  Now for the next part of the plan._ The Doctor knew that once the Idkadi had captured him, they would be confident enough that he wouldn’t escape to talk about plan details where he could hear and then he could communicate those to Rose through the link. _Rose!_ In his hasty thinking, he had forgotten that none of them knew what he was doing and must be worried about him, especially because he had been knocked out for twenty-seven minutes and fourteen-no-seventeen seconds.  His time senses were still a bit askew.

 

 _That was a heck of a punch; I usually recover quicker,_ he mentally grumbled as he dug around his head searching for the link between him and Rose.

 

**************************

 

Jack, Rose, and Martha had been anxiously looking around town for more leads for a half hour before Rose suddenly heard the Doctor’s voice clear as day in her head.  

 

“ _Hi, Rose._ ”  

 

She stopped dead and gasped at the sudden message, earning surprised looks from Jack and Martha, before she replied hurriedly, “ _Doctor!  Are you okay?  Where are you?_ ”

 

“ _I’m fine; I’m okay.  Just a little foggy still, but it’ll pass.  I’m in their new base, an old warehouse like we thought._ ”

 

“ _Did they do anything to you?_ ” she questioned anxiously, still not fully certain he was without injury.

 

“ _All they did is_ _tie me to a pole and forget about me.”_ Then, his voice dropping to that tender tone reserved only for her, _“ Rose, I’m fine. I promise I’m fine.”_

 

_“I love you.”_

 

 _“I love you too.  Now I’m going to listen in and see what they’re doing so we can stop it, alright?”_ he replied, his voice still keeping the tender tone.  

 

“ _Okay.  Stay safe._ ” Rose ordered gently, and with that, the link faded into just background noise in both their minds.  

 

She turned back towards her two confused companions with a relieved smile and said, “He’s okay.  He’s in their base and is going to tell me their plan when he figures it out.” Jack and Martha both visibly relaxed and let out relieved sighs.

 

“I’m so going to kill him when he gets back,” Martha grumbled and Rose shot back with a warm smile,

 

“Nuh uh.  I get first dibs of any killing of my future husband.”

 

“I can see why he likes you so much.”

 

*********************************

 

After the Doctor figured out said Idkadi plans, he quickly formulated his own plan and re-opened their link.  

 

“ _Rose, I figured it out.  Their spaceship crashed here with no fuel, so they are projecting a blue filter over the moon from a local location to steal the minds of anyone that looks at it.  They are using the stored brainwaves to power their ship so they can get home. Have you found the base yet?_ ”

 

“ _Almost. We narrowed it down to two locations, almost one.  How are you doing?_ ”

 

“ _Now Rose,_ ” he gently reprimanded, “ _I told you I’m fine._ ”

 

“ _That’s not going to stop me from worrying.  Plus, it’s not like you’ve ever lied about your condition before.  I’ll believe it when I see it,”_ A few tense minutes of silence between them passed before Rose spoke up again. “ _Okay, we found the base.  What next?_ ”

 

“ _You need to get the sonic and disable the guns first.  I’m not sure where it is, but they took it from me._ ”

 

Rose quickly conveyed the information to the other two and between the three of them, hashed out a rough plan.  Jack prepared to move to his position by flashing a large smile and saluting to Rose and Martha.

 

“Wish me luck ladies!” he half-yelled as he disappeared around the corner.

 

Martha fondly sighed, shook her head, and smiled to Rose, “He really is something else, isn’t he?”

 

“Yes he is,” Rose replied, wearing much the same expression, “I _need_ to tell you about when we met the first time.”

 

“Yes, definitely!  But for now we need to save a certain idiot Time Lord of ours,” Martha agreed.

 

“Right, let’s go.  You ready?” Rose asked.

 

“No.”

 

“Good.  Neither am I.”

 

***************************

 

The Doctor was starting to get impatient.   _Well_ , not impatient, but not having the freedom to move around or talk for what was going on two hours and nineteen minutes was getting to him.  He could normally only stay still for a few minutes, what with a double heartbeat and the permanent feeling of something not unlike a sugar high running through his veins.  He shifted slightly to get more comfortable and let his eyes wander around every already-memorized detail of the warehouse until- _oh that wasn’t there before_ .  He kept his eyes fixed on the new object and wasn’t surprised at all when Jack popped his head around the corner.  Jack quickly did a visual scan of the room, ending with his eyes landing on the Doctor, who in response raised an eyebrow and made a little nod with his head as if saying, “ _Well, go on._ ”  Jack grinned and winked in response before strolling out into the open confidently.

 

“Well hello there fellas,” he started, his signature smile shining brightly even when every gun in the room was turned to point at him, “I hear you’re stealing people’s minds to power your spaceship.  Stuck here, yeah? I think there are other non-lethal ways to solve this problem, right?”

 

“Should we fire, sir?” asked one of the soldiers nearby.

 

“No, no, wait,” replied the leader dismissively, then, leaning over to his second-in-command and speaking in a low voice, “Fairly young, fit, bearing of a soldier, we could use this one.”  The other man nodded in agreement, and the leader spoke back up, “Yes, there are other ways to get power, but I figure if we take out a few members of a primitive, useless race, what’s the harm?”

Jack briefly glanced over at the Doctor, who had stiffened and had the Oncoming Storm look in his eyes before answering, “What’s the harm? You’re killing innocent people, whether you think they are primitive or not,” and then, with a quick glance at the other side of the room and a smile, continued, “And, as good-looking as you are, you're not the smartest.  Because while I’ve been blabbering up here, my friends have been working behind your back.” And with that, the familiar buzzing noise of the sonic filled the air and every gun in the room sent out a shower of sparks. A few moments of chaos ensued with guns being dropped, people dodging sparks, and a fair amount of commotion as fingers and faces were singed.

 

Rose walked triumphantly over to Jack and high-fived him.

 

“We just destroyed all your guns and permanently turned off your moon filter while all of you were paying attention to Captain flirt-a-lot up here.” Then she complimented Jack proudly, saying, “No one creates a distraction better than you, Jack,” Then they heard a commotion and their looks of joy quickly turned to ones of horror as they took in the newly created and very delicate scene in front of them.

 

******************************

 

The Doctor had watched with a strong sense of pride as Rose and Martha snuck through the back, found the sonic, and perfectly timed their activation with Jack’s conversation ending.  He was so busy observing Rose and Jack interact that he didn’t notice that the leader had dropped down right next to him during the commotion until a perfectly executed blow to the side of the head hit him, and everything went fuzzy.  He barely processed that the cords binding his wrist and ankles were cut and he was hauled to his feet roughly, or that Martha had been knocked to the ground by the second-in-command, the sonic skittering across the floor just a few feet out of her reach.  The world came slightly back into focus when sharp, cold metal pressed into his neck and a loud, triumphant voice spoke right next to his ear.

 

“One move from any of you and I slit his throat.”  Jack and Rose immediately stopped dead, their looks of happiness quickly fading into ones of dawning horror.

 

“No, let him go!” Rose pleaded, then sucked in a sharp breath when her action caused the knife to be pressed harder against the Doctor’s throat, causing a thin trickle of blood to run down it.

 

 _“Rose, listen to him.  I don’t want you hurt. Please.”_ he asked, a note of desperation in his voice.

 

 _“And do you think I want you hurt?”_ came the sharp reply.

 

“I should kill him.  I should just kill you all,” the leader rambled, interrupting their mental conversation.  “Or, I could kill him, wait for him to start regenerating, then kill him for good! Imagine the possibilities!”  He moved slowly towards the control panel at the front of the room, keeping one arm around the Doctor and the other with the knife digging into his throat.  

 

Martha tried to ignore the feeling of desperation from the predicament they were in and instead to focus on trying to slowly and inconspicuously reach for the sonic.  But it was too far away for her to reach without making a large movement. So she took a deep breath and shifted, only to accidentally send it rolling farther out of her reach.  She watched it as it rolled past a crack in the floor, and was stopped by a green combat boot. She slowly looked up to meet the eyes of a young but battle-hardened soldier who after a moment gave a small nod and silently rolled it back to her.  

 

She gave him a quick look of thanks before shifting her legs under her, but stopped when the leader flipped a switch to reveal a hidden panel with button that said ‘Kill Switch’, muttering with resolve, “You know what, I’m going to kill him first and make you watch, then everyone else, including this whole town.  This button will also detonate a bomb destroying them, and good riddance too.”

 

The Doctor felt desperation rising up, so much it felt like it was choking him.  Rose, Jack, Martha, all the soldiers, and the whole town was going to die, and it was his fault.  Looking back, he could pinpoint the exact moment he lost control and cursed at himself for not realizing it sooner.  He frantically looked at every action he could make and what the resulting timeline would be, and they all ended with death on his and Rose’s part.   _No no no, there has to be something, there has to be something!_ He looked harder still, but as if the leader could read his thoughts, spoke then.

 

“And if you try anything, I already have my hand on the button,” he threatened, speaking directly into the Doctor’s ear.  He desperately looked one last time at anything he could do before his hearts dropped suddenly at the unwelcome and nagging realization that he just had to let time take its course.  He took a deep breath and opened up the link for what appeared to be the last time.

 

“ _Rose, I’m so so sorry, I should’ve done something else, or reacted faster, or-_ ”

 

“ _It’s okay Doctor, you - we were trying to save people, and that’s all that matters.  I love you.”_

  
_“I love you too, Rose Tyler.  Goodbye.”_ At this point, tears had started falling out of both their eyes.  The Doctor glanced over at Jack and gave a final nod as best he could, knowing he was the only one who might survive the explosion.  Jack nodded back solemnly, and the Doctor stole one last glance at Rose before closing his eyes and waiting for the inevitable. He felt one more tear leak out of his eye and roll down his cheek before desperately thinking to himself, " _Forever can’t end like this."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just love cliffhangers, don't you?


	11. The Moon Paradox Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cliffhanger gets resolved, but will everyone survive?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's yet another chapter because I felt bad.

Martha knew this was the last chance she had before everyone died. She urgently dialed the sonic up to the highest pitched setting and in one quick motion jumped up and held it up right next to the leader’s ear. The leader, startled by the loud noise, covered his ears and dropped the knife, sending it skittering loudly across the floor. Martha used the opportunity to grab the still-unsteady Doctor’s arm and quickly start to help him across the room to Rose, but let go when she met them halfway, and they clung to each other in relief.

“Martha! Sonic!” Jack yelled urgently. Martha whirled around and threw the sonic to him when she saw how close the leader was to the kill switch. He quickly caught and activated the sonic right next to the button just before it was pressed. A tense few seconds passed, everyone bracing for the explosion. Jack felt a surge of affection when he glanced over to the Doctor and found him with his back to them and both Rose and Martha in his arms, shielding them as best he could from the possible blast. As a few more seconds passed and nothing happened, a grin slowly grew on Jack’s face.

“And this is the part where I punch you,” he smugly told the leader before giving him a perfectly-executed punch to the jaw that sent him crumbling to the floor unconscious.

“Yes!” Martha yelled in a mix of triumph and relief, causing the Doctor to let go of Martha and turn around to see what was going on, still keeping one arm wrapped protectively around Rose. Martha then went to hug the person nearest her, which happened to be the Doctor. He gladly returned the hug with one arm, lifting her off the ground with a happy laugh reminding both of them of their reunion on the cargo ship they had saved from falling into the sun. Martha glanced over at Jack and groaned when she saw how proud he looked of himself.

“We’re going to need to knock his ego down like seven notches after this. It’s already big enough as it is.” The Doctor nodded and smiled, watching Rose unlatch herself from him to hug Martha tightly.

“Thank you for saving him,” Rose whispered to her sincerely.

“Anytime,” Martha replied warmly. The three of them then turned their attention to Jack, who was helping the now-free soldiers secure the leader before Rose realized something.

“Wait! There was a second-in-command too, where’s he?” she asked frantically. The other two realized she was right and started looking around quickly. Their question was soon answered when the discarded knife flew end-over-end from one side of the room to hit Jack in the heart, and he crumpled to the ground. The other soldiers quickly overwhelmed the thrower and got to work securing him as well.

“Jack!” Rose cried, running over and dropping down to her knees next to his still form to check for a pulse. Martha and the Doctor shared a quick glance before the Doctor walked over to Rose and knelt down beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his chest. After a moment of thought, he used one arm to pull the knife out of Jack’s chest and set it on the floor before sliding his arm back around Rose. 

“They killed him,” she whispered numbly.

“Rose, there’s something I need to tell you,” he started gently, but before he could finish Jack sat up and gasped for air. Rose quickly tore herself away from the Doctor’s embrace to tackle Jack in a hug.

“Oof! Awwww, Rosie, I’m glad you care,” Jack said warmly, wrapping his arms around her tightly before continuing with a mock glare at the other two, “Unlike some people.”

“We know you too well for that,” the Doctor responded, beaming at the two of them.

“How?” Rose asked Jack simply, still breathless from the scare.

“It’s a long story. Basically, I can’t die. Ever.” Jack replied, not giving her the real reason after a pointed look from the Doctor.

“Oh Jack, I’m so sorry,” Rose said softly, pulling him into yet another hug.

“It’s okay Rosie,” he started, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, “I made peace with it a long time ago. And, this way I can keep seeing you two for a very long time,” he ended on a positive note.

“Oh joy,” the Doctor deadpanned behind the two on the floor, startling laughs out of the four of them. After as the laughs and adrenaline gradually faded, everyone noticed how exhausted they really were after the soldiers had left the room, causing Jack to lay back down on the floor with an arm behind his head and Martha to slide down the side of one of the control panels to a sitting position. Only the Doctor was left standing, and even he was leaning against a desk nearby. Rose started to absentmindedly replay the events of the day in her head before realizing something. She got to her feet and made her way over to the Doctor, who greeted her with his normal happy smile and moved over slightly to make room for her. His smile quickly was replaced with astonishment when she slapped him in the face. 

“What was that for?!” he sputtered indignantly.

“What were you thinking?!” she yelled, grabbing the front of his brown trench coat so he couldn’t get away, “You just left us there without telling us the plan first! We didn’t even know if you were okay or not for an hour!”  
The Doctor glanced to the side at Jack and Martha and asked pleadingly, “Guys? Help?”

“Nope, you’re on your own,” Jack replied, lacing his fingers together behind his head and watching with amusement.

“Martha? Please?”

“If she didn’t slap you I was going to,” Martha replied, crossing her arms.

“That was extremely stupid of you, and if you do anything like that ever again I am going to personally put you into regeneration,” Rose finished.

“But what if you don’t like the next me?”

“That is a risk I’m willing to take.” 

“Yeah, right,” Jack snorted from behind them, then gave an innocent, “What?” when Rose glared at him.

“Not helpful, Jack!” she hissed and returned her attention back to the intimidated Time Lord in front of her. “Understand?” she asked firmly.

“Yes,” the Doctor replied timidly, head down and shoulders slumped, looking for all the world like a hurt puppy who’d just been yelled at by its owner. And just like a puppy, Rose couldn’t stay mad at him for more than a few seconds. When his sad brown eyes met hers, she felt any remnant of anger melt away.

“Oh c’mere you floppy-haired alien, I forgive you,” she said, pulling his slumped form into a tight hug. She felt him brighten considerably in her embrace, and when she pulled away, he was back to his normal chipper Time Lord self.

“You two were a lot of help,” he tried to remark sarcastically to Jack and Martha, but he was betrayed by the smile that was still on his face. “My own family didn’t even back me up!” Then he froze as he realized what he just said. Jack and Martha both wore shocked expressions before a smile grew on Jack’s face.

“Doc, did you just call us your family?” he asked.

“So, where do you guys wanna go next?” he responded, blatantly ignoring Jack’s question.

“Doctor.”

He sighed in resignation before saying. “Yes, I suppose I did. It’s just- families on Gallifrey aren’t very close, and mine wasn’t either, but they were there. And, now that they’re gone...” at this he trailed off, and Rose slid her hand into his and squeezed it gently before he continued, “I just...now...these past few days with you guys...it just felt like I had a family again,” he finished softly, looking at the ground. Jack and Martha glanced at each other and nodded before both getting up and swallowing him in a hug. The Doctor seemed surprised at first but returned the hug when Rose joined in as well. 

After a few seconds, they pulled away and Jack said cheerfully, “Well then, which side of the family am I on?”

“Mine!” Rose shouted quickly, grabbing his arm and pulling him closer to her before speaking more softly this time, “Honestly Jack, you’ve been like a big brother to me ever since I first met you. That is, after you stopped flirting with me.”

“Who says I’ve stopped flirting with you?” Jack playfully asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Jaaaaack,” the Doctor groaned from behind him and he laughed in response.

“Martha, that means you are now the Doctor’s little sister, congratulations,” Jack continued chipperly, patting her on the shoulder. Martha was surprised to find she didn’t mind going from jealous of the Doctor’s relationship with Rose to being proclaimed his little sister on the same day. In fact, she was kind of happy about it.

“Now that we’ve got that sorted, allons-y back to the TARDIS!” the Doctor beamed, before leading the way back out of the building with Jack on his heels. Rose watched fondly and let out a happy sigh as the two boys immediately started bickering about how 'you can’t just order pizza in the 1950s, Jack'. Maybe everything was going to be just fine after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FLUFF HECK YES
> 
> (and even more next chapter)


	12. Down Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some more cuddling, because they deserve it.

Jack had in fact convinced them to order pizza so they had popped into modern-day New York to get some then back into the Time Vortex, needing to rest both the TARDIS and themselves. They were currently scattered around the lounge/living room area with various boxes of pizza and people laying around in random places. Jack had pulled three beanbag chairs into a row and was using them as a bed while halfheartedly keeping up a conversation with Martha, who was seated at the table a few feet away with Rose, while the Doctor was spread out on his side across the couch. 

Jack’s prediction to Martha just after they entered the TARDIS that, “If you thought they were clingy before, just you wait,” had come true and even though they were a few feet away from each other and Rose was falling asleep on the table, the Doctor’s arm was propped up over the top of the couch and holding tightly onto Rose’s hand which was outstretched limply from where she was using her other arm as a pillow. A movie was playing, but at this point it was just background noise and only the Doctor was really paying attention to it. 

Rose shifted slightly in her position and yawned while trying to get comfortable, prompting Jack to remark, “Rosie, if you fall asleep like that you’re going to be sore in the morning.”

“Don’t care,” she mumbled back, eyes already closed. Jack rolled his eyes and was about to get up and gently force her to a more comfortable location when the Doctor pulled at her hand from where he was laying.

“Don’t wanna get up,” she groaned into the table. A sharper, more insistent tug on her hand followed and she reluctantly got up to sleepily stumble around the coach and lay down out of view from Jack and Martha. 

A few moments of silence followed before they heard Rose mumble, “If I’d known you be this comfy I would have moved over here ages ago.”

“Go to sleep love, I’ve got you,” the Doctor gently replied, the love and adoration clear in his voice, unaware of Jack and Martha both silently awwwww-ing from behind them.

“That was the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. Have they always been like this?” Martha whispered to Jack quietly.

“Yes, kind of. They were almost always touching in some way, and the way they’d look at each other when the other wasn’t looking was really sweet. I met them in when he was in his previous regeneration, but he still needed her then just as much, if not more,” he replied, a distant look in his eyes.

“What’s regeneration? I keep hearing about it, but I don’t know what it is,” Martha asked.

“You mean he hasn’t told you?” Jack asked back, shaking his head and smiling, “He’s making a bad habit of that. Ask Rose tomorrow, she’ll tell you quite the story.” They continued in hushed conversation for several more minutes until they were interrupted by light snoring from the couch. 

They glanced at each other before Martha stealthily slid off her chair and walked over to peer around the side before her face softened, then her mouth dropped open slightly and she whispered back to Jack in astonishment, “He’s sleeping; he’s actually sleeping!”

“What? Really? When did he sleep last?” he asked her with equal astonishment, sitting up and coming over to stand next to her. 

“Um...about a week ago when Rose first came back, and he was unconscious a few hours before that.”

“I assume he still has bad sleeping habits?”

Martha chuckled softly and replied, “You have no idea. He’ll usually keep going until he either drops out of pure exhaustion or the TARDIS locks him in his room to force him to sleep.”

“Same when I was with him. I know Time Lords only have to sleep once every few weeks, but he really pushes it to the limit. Usually once a month we’d find him asleep in some random place he’d crashed in.”

“Why doesn’t he like to sleep?” Martha inquired, “I always wanted to ask him but never got around to it.”

“Nightmares,” Jack stated simply. “When you trigger the genocide of your own people and are living a life where you can’t save everyone, you get nightmares. He’s seen so much death in his life. But Rose helps, she’s always helped, whether she knows it or not.” With that, they both turned to fully take in the scene in front of them. The Doctor was still facing the TV, now asleep, with his arms wrapped tightly around Rose, pulling her even closer to him (if that were possible). Rose was facing into him, her face buried in his chest and her arms tucked up in front of her. His lips were still lightly pressed to the top of her head and their legs were tangled together further down the couch. 

Jack pulled his phone out and quickly snapped a picture of the sleeping couple before Martha gently laid a blanket over the two of them and they silently left the room. The TARDIS dimmed the lights and lowered the TV volume to keep her two precious charges asleep, happy that the Doctor was starting to take care of himself again at last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I hope you liked this chapter.
> 
> TBH, I'm starting to lose motivation for this story so I'm not sure when the next chapter will come out. Comments always help and if you guys have any suggestions i'm open to them.


	13. An Interesting Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They wake up, there's more fluff that turned into angst and back into fluff again, and a wild Jack appears.

Several hours later, Rose woke up drowsily, not willing to open her eyes given how warm and safe she felt. The Doctor’s arms were still wrapped firmly around her, keeping her pressed against him gently. Her head moved with the steady rise and fall of his chest and she sighed in happiness. She had travelled to many places and seen many things, but right here, in the TARDIS, with the Doctor, was the only place she really felt at home. She laid there in his arms for several minutes, just appreciating the closeness and love she felt coming from her future husband, even when he was asleep and snoring softly next to her. Maybe their link also allowed emotions to be shared. After a few more minutes the rhythm of his breathing changed slightly and he stirred in place.

“Morning sleepyhead,” she said, moving her head off his chest to look him in the eye. He groaned and slowly blinked his eyes open, adjusting to the light. 

“Did you sleep well?” he asked her while rubbing his eyes, his voice still heavy with sleep. But Rose didn’t hear him, instead appreciating how positively adorable he was currently. His hair was flat on one side and sticking up all over on the other, his chocolate brown eyes were filled with sleep, his movements were clumsy and uncoordinated, and their close proximity allowed Rose to see the normally-invisible dusting of freckles scattered over his cheeks and across his nose. 

His sleepy expression changed into one of puzzlement as he realized she wasn’t responding, and Rose simply couldn’t take it anymore. She scooted up so they were level and and pressed her lips passionately onto his. He made a surprised noise in the back of his throat before returning the snog sloppily after a few seconds. Rose backed off breathless before seeing his dazed expression, sighing, and kissing him again.

“Wow,” he gasped when he could process a coherent thought, “I should sleep more often.”

“Yes you should,” Rose replied breathlessly. 

The Doctor leaned forward to knock his forehead gently against hers and said adoringly, “Have I told you how amazing you are recently?”

“You don’t need to, I already know.” she replied cheekily.

“Aaaaaand you’ve been spending too much time around Jack.” The playful and loving tone of his voice reminded her of the night before and she realized something. 

“Did you call me love last night?” she asked. He blushed and ducked his head, looking like a schoolboy with a crush, and Rose had to use all her self-control not to pull him closer and kiss him again.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked.

“No, no!” she quickly assured him. Then her voice dropped to softer tone, “I like it, I really like it.” The Doctor’s face lit up in a happy grin and Rose fondly shook her head at how quickly his mood changes.

“I love you,” he voiced happily, then sighed and said softer, “I still can’t believe I get to say that. Rose, when you were gone, it absolutely destroyed me, and I...I did some things I’m not proud of,” he finished with his head down, not willing to meet her eyes. Rose felt her hearts breaking at his guilt so she gently pulled his head to her chest, wrapped her arms around him, and pressed a kiss to his forehead tenderly.

“Doctor, I love all of you, and that includes your flaws. No one’s perfect. Your mistakes don’t define you, it’s what you do afterwards that does,” she told him softly and got a small whispered, “Thanks” in response. After a few more seconds he pulled away and gave a self-deprecating laugh. 

“I’m a mess aren’t I,” he said dejectedly. 

“Yes, but you’re my mess and I love you,” Rose replied, brushing a few stray pieces of hair off his forehead and kissing it again.

“Oh Rose Tyler, I don’t know what I did to deserve you but I’m so glad you’re mine,” he sighed, once again leaning forward to gently touch his forehead to hers.

“So Doctor,” Rose asked somewhat hesitantly, “Earlier when you were asleep, it was almost like I could feel your emotions, like I could feel that you wanted me to be safe and loved.” The Doctor hesitated for a second, and Rose quickly spoke, “It’s daft, isn’t it. I was probably just imagining things.”

“No, you actually kind of were feeling my emotions,” he said reassuringly. “Time Lords are low-level touch telepaths, meaning that they can read minds and emotions with touch if we want. I usually don’t use those abilities unless someone asks, but sometimes things bleed through anyways, especially in high-adrenaline situations, and I can’t help hearing them. Anyway, the more skin-to-skin contact I have with someone, the easier it is for emotions and thoughts to leak through.” Rose looked confused, so he clarified, “Like when we hold hands in a high-pressure situation, we can actually feel each other’s emotions to an extent.”

“Hold on,” Rose interrupted, “Are you saying that we like holding hands and being close to each other so much because we’re getting high off each other’s emotions?”

“Well...yes.”

“How romantic.” 

The Doctor laughed in response and leaned down to kiss Rose, and they both stayed there kissing softly on the couch for several minutes. 

“Love you,” he murmured softly after they were finished, his arms loosely wrapped around her.

“Love you too,” she murmured back, leaning forward slightly to bump her nose gently against his. He opened his mouth to say something else, but instead all that came out was a loud and abrupt sneeze, scaring Rose who fell off the couch with a thud. 

They both started laughing so hard it was hard to breathe and between laughs the Doctor managed, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she replied after a few more laughs, “And you sneeze like a kitten.”

“Oi! Do not!” As their laughs faded they noticed a third, familiar laugh from the doorway and both heads turned towards it.

“And how long have you been standing there?” The Doctor asked Jack after a moment.

“Long enough,” he replied with a knowing grin and an eyebrow raised before turning dramatically and walking down the corridor, his long coat swooshing behind him.

“What is that supposed to mean,” the Doctor asked exasperatedly before bouncing to his feet and offering Rose a hand which she gladly accepted. He pulled her up to her feet before she pulled him by his hand out of the room in the direction Jack had taken.

“Come on!” she playfully half-yelled back at him, “Who knows what he is going to tell Martha!” 

“Allons-y,” he muttered as Rose pulled him down the hallway. This was going to be an interesting morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for all the support and check out my new fic, The Doctor and the Spider (a Marvel/Doctor Who crossover), if you haven't!


	14. Christmas Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A late Christmas chapter where some forgotten things come to light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I am so sorry this came out late but better late then never right?

The Doctor knew it was a bad sign when he heard two sets of rapidly approaching footsteps from behind him and Jack’s voice yell, “Doctor, wait up!” He stopped and stared up at the ceiling for a moment in the universal sign of “give me strength” before swiveling on his heel to face them.

“Yes?” he asked Jack and Rose with the start of a fond grin.

“We want it to be Christmas,” Jack said.

“Who’s w-” the Doctor started before being interrupted by Jack continuing.

“Like on the TARDIS, not just we land somewhere and it’s Christmas. I mean, I can’t even remember the last Christmas I had. Martha hasn’t had one since she started traveling with you, and-”

With this Jack turned to Rose and let her finish his sentence quietly, “And I haven’t celebrated one since we were last together, right after you regenerated.”

“I haven’t celebrated one since then either. Too many memories of you...” the Doctor responded in the same quiet tone, eyes downcast. Rose reached over to give his hand a squeeze, and he brightened immediately, saying chipperly, “But you’re here now, so let’s do it! Christmas on the TARDIS, brilliant!” He tugged Rose after him, heading in the opposite direction after excitedly saying something about Christmas decorations in a back room. Jack smiled at the pair of them as they disappeared down the corridor, the Doctor babbling on about Christmas traditions in the future and Rose beaming up at him as always. They could be so dang cute sometimes. He stood there for a few moments, listening to their voices fade before heading towards the console room to find Martha and tell her the news.

***********************************

Within a few hours, the TARDIS was full of Christmas decorations in all of the main rooms, although it was debatable how many of those had actually been put up by the occupants of the ship and how many by the ship itself. To simplify things for presents, the four of them had decided to put their names in a hat and get one for the person they drew. The Doctor got Rose (Jack did not think this was a coincidence), Rose got Jack, Jack got Martha, and Martha got the Doctor. After this, Martha excused herself back to her room for a nap and found the boys a few hours later engaged in a heated battle of Wii Tennis with Rose watching amusedly from the couch.

She looked over to see Martha standing in the doorway and said simply, “Don’t ask.”

“Okay then, I won’t,” Martha replied with a smile, sitting down next to Rose who had her legs tucked up underneath her and one arm hanging loosely off the arm of the couch.

“What’s going on?” Rose asked, reading Martha’s expression instantly.

Martha sighed and responded, “What on earth am I going to get the Doctor for Christmas? He’s a nine-hundred-year-old- “

“-nine hundred and three!” the Doctor interrupted indignantly.

“You’re not supposed to be listening!” Rose responded with equal indignance. “Don’t you have some tennis to play? No wonder you’re losing.”

“Oi!”

“Whatever,” Martha responded, rolling her eyes and continuing, “-alien from another planet who has a time machine and probably everything else in existence on this ship somewhere!” 

Rose nodded and thought for a moment before leaning in slightly and lowering her voice so the Doctor wouldn’t overhear, “Food is always something he’s excited to get, especially anything banana flavored. I’m sure you know how much he likes bananas by now?”

“Oh yes,” Martha chuckled and started to say something else, but was once again interrupted by the Doctor.

“Did someone say bananas?” he asked eagerly, head swiveled towards them and hair messier than usual. Jack laughed and hit pause, wanting to see how this played out.

“Hey Martha,” Jack said, “Did I ever tell you about the time that he replaced my gun with a banana when we were trapped in a hospital with gas-mask wearing zombie people?”

“Um…no?” she replied with amusement.

“Hey,” the Doctor said, trying to defend himself, “That was my previous regeneration.”

“That’s still you, Doctor,” Rose chimed in, amused with the whole conversation.

“What’s regeneration?” Martha asked, “I keep hearing about it, but I don’t know what it is.” The room was silent for a moment, the Doctor tensing up and looking anywhere but Rose as she fixed him with a glare. Jack couldn’t take it and burst out laughing, having to use the wall for support while saying in a sing-song voice, “Somebody’s in trou-ble!”

“Doctor, you have got to stop not telling people about it until it’s happening!” Rose reprimanded sternly. 

“Sorry,” he squeaked, making Jack laugh even harder. Rose’s face softened at this, and he relaxed slightly. Like she could stay annoyed at him for long. 

“You boys keep playing; I’ll take care of it,” she said fondly and turned back to Martha to explain, “When I first met the Doctor, he didn’t look like this. He had short black hair, big ears-”

“Oi!”

“It’s true, sorry Doctor. And he wore this black leather jacket that was just a little bit too big for him. He acted differently too. He was ruder and blunter.”

“And more sassy,” Jack added, still smiling.

“Yeah, that too. I traveled with him for a year, and we fell in love, although neither of us was willing to admit it. Anyway, a few weeks after we met Jack, we were attacked by the Daleks.” Martha didn’t have pleasant memories of her encounter with the Daleks, but judging by how the Doctor stiffened and Jack’s involuntary shudder at hearing the name, their encounter had been worse than hers. Rose continued, “When it looked like the end, the Doctor tricked me into going back into the TARDIS and then sent me home so I’d be safe, leaving him and Jack stranded there to die. The details are a bit fuzzy for me after that, but I think I absorbed the Time Vortex and came back for them, then the next thing I remember is waking up on the TARDIS floor while the Doctor was going on about changing and not being the same person...and Barcelona - not the city, the planet. Next thing I know, there’s this glowing light shooting out of him, and then he changes into, well, this,” she finished, gesturing to the current Doctor.

“He had a whole new body (hearing this the Doctor winked at her), and personality, and then spent three-quarters of the next day in a coma! I didn’t even know what happened or if he was even the same person until that evening when he finally woke up and saved the day by getting into a sword fight with the Sycorax.” Martha sat still for a moment and tried to process everything that was just said. She was about to ask something when the Doctor spoke up.

“To be fair, I tried to tell Martha, but she interrupted me,” the Doctor said defensively. 

“Really, when was that?” Martha started, then realized when it was. “Oh yeah, when you were infected by that sun that was alive or something! Yeah, I guess I did cut you off, now that I think about it.” The Doctor sent a triumphant glance Rose’s direction, and she rolled her eyes.

“But how did you get the Time Vortex out of you?” Martha asked.

“I’m not sure,” Rose replied at the same time the Doctor said under his breath, “I kissed her.” Rose managed to pick up some of what he said, however, and asked with suspicion, “Doctor, what did you just say?”

“Nothing,” he replied, his voice an octave higher than normal. 

Jack had clearly heard what he said and decided to add in teasingly, “Yeah Doc, what’d you say?” 

Since the Doctor had talked himself into a corner in this conversation, he sighed and gave in, repeating a little louder, “I kissed her.” The whole room was silent for a few seconds in surprise, with the only noise being the Wii music in the background before someone spoke up.

“Are you saying we had our first kiss all that time ago and I don’t remember it?” Rose asked in disbelief.

“Well...yes?”

“And you didn’t think that was something worth mentioning?” then, she added jokingly, “At this rate, you’ll tell me we kissed in New New York too and I don’t remember it!” 

The Doctor chuckled nervously. 

Out of the goodness of his heart, Jack decided to save him from further grilling and unpause the Wii suddenly, breaking the silence and apparently startling the Doctor, who jumped in surprise before seeing the easy exit to the conversation that Jack had just provided.

“Erm, yes. Just have to do...this…you know, the game. I’m just going to...play,” he finished lamely, wincing as soon as he turned away.

“Smooth,” Jack whispered smugly.

“Don’t speak to me ever again,” the Doctor groaned in response. Rose decided to drop the conversation for now, instead asking Martha about her travels with the Doctor.

“So Martha, where has the Doctor taken you?” she asked.

“Oh, lots of places! We met Shakespeare, went to New York and New New York, landed on a spaceship doomed to crash while the crew was being taken over one by one or killed by an alien entity,-”

“That happened to us too!” Rose interrupted, “And how was New New York for you? Because it wasn’t great for us. Actually, I got kidnapped.”

“Me too! Although it was actually all kind of a misunderstanding and turned out to be fine in the end. Actually, the Doctor kept talking about you there, although he talked about you everywhere else too so I guess there wasn’t unique. Sometimes it was like he’d look at me and get this faraway look in his eyes, like he was seeing you instead.” Martha finished. Not for the first time, Rose realized the extent of the damage that their separation had caused him, and felt even more determined to make the rest of his life as happy as possible. She was interrupted from her thoughts by Martha speaking again.

“Did you meet the Face of Boe too?” she asked. 

“Yeah,” Rose recounted with a smile, “Twice, actually. Once there and once with the Doctor’s last regeneration.” Neither of them had noticed how Jack had frozen at the name.

“The face of what?” he asked with disbelief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I watched the End of Time today and I have to ask...HOW DO YOU PEOPLE COPE???? 
> 
> I've been numb for like three hours now.


	15. Christmas Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse. Time is realitive, right?

“The Face of Boe. Why?” the Doctor repeated, then realization dawned. “Does that mean something to you? Do you know him?” 

“Maybe?” Jack replied unsurely, sitting down on the arm of the couch nearest the TV.

“Giant face...alien... knows me somehow and has been alive for thousands of years...” the Doctor continued, undaunted. 

“It’s just...when I was a kid, living on the Boeshane Peninsula, tiny little place, I was the first one ever to be signed up for the Time Agency. They were so proud of me. After that, they gave me a nickname...” at this Jack paused for a moment before continuing, glancing around the room at the other occupants. “The Face of Boe, they called me.”

Three jaws dropped open simultaneously, and Jack couldn’t help but chuckle, especially at seeing the rare expression of shock on the Doctor’s face.

“No. Nope. Definitely not, no. What.” the Doctor said in disbelief, eyes wide.

“It can’t be,” Martha breathed out almost simultaneously. Rose started to laugh hard, and the Doctor uttered a few more “what”s before Martha joined in as well. 

Jack eyed Rose, who was laughing particularly hard, with amusement before asking dryly, “Anything you’d like to share with us, Rosie?” Rose held up a hand, telling him to wait, and tried somewhat unsuccessfully to rein in her laughter. After a few more moments it subsided, and she spoke up. 

“Jack, then you were there on our first date. And by date I mean the first trip he took me on,” she laughed, motioning towards the still-shocked Doctor.

“Oh, I can’t wait to be there for that!” Jack exclaimed, “Now I’ve got something to look forward to.”

“And, Jack, some other good news is that you do, eventually, die. I was there,” the Doctor said, happy for his friend. 

“Really?” Jack breathed, hope gleaming brightly in his eyes.

“Yeah, and in the best way too. Saving people,” the Doctor confirmed, smiling fondly at Jack.

“Well, that’s a relief,” Jack managed, eyes slightly wet. 

Rose got up to hug him before gently pulling him up and guiding him towards the door, saying, “I saw the yawns you were hiding a few minutes ago. Go get some rest.” He stopped her at the door, lightheartedly smacking her hand away. “Okay, I’ll go to bed,” he agreed. Then, his gaze softening, “You’re a good sister, Rosie.” On impulse, he quickly leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead and walked off, laughing softly when he felt the Doctor’s glare on the back of his head. Rose walked back into the room and sat down next to the Doctor on Martha’s other side, and within a few minutes the Time Lord’s head was resting on her shoulder, and his eyes were closed. Martha noticed the sleeping Doctor on Rose’s other side and stared at her in awe.

“How do you do that? Do you know how hard it usually is to get them to sleep?” she asked in an astonished whisper.

“ ‘m not sleepy,” the Doctor protested drowsily before stifling a yawn.

“Yeah, right,” Rose replied affectionately, reaching up to ruffle his hair and press a kiss to his forehead.

“They don’t listen to me when I tell them to sleep!” Martha continued in an indignant whisper.

Rose laughed and said, “Sounds about right. It’s not your fault though; this one seems to have a death wish when I’m not around.”

“Oi.” 

“Go to sleep, love.”

*************************************  
The next week was a whirlwind of activity with no less than twenty landings and takeoffs from different locations, although the three passengers didn’t know what most of them were because they were banned from the control room while the Doctor worked on Rose’s present. They had been warned in no uncertain terms to stay out for a few days unless in mortal peril (and if it was Jack, he could just deal with it). In those few days, they had only seen the Doctor when he’d briefly popped in for food or to cuddle with Rose, and there had been no less than three small explosions heard from said room, usually followed by angry exclamations in a song-like language. After the third loud boom, Rose banged her head on the table in exasperation.

“He’s trying too hard,” she groaned into the table as Martha chuckled in amusement.

“He’s trying to show how much he loves you,” Jack replied, shaking his head fondly.

“If he puts himself into regeneration because he’s trying to prove something, he’s going to go through two,” Rose muttered in annoyance. Jack and Martha both laughed at the idle threat and Martha patted Rose on the shoulder in sympathy as she passed by. 

********************************

After a few more days, everything was ready, and it was time to open presents. The four of them gathered in the living room, which was still decked out in festive decor. The Doctor was nearly bouncing in anticipation of Rose opening her present, even though he insisted on her opening it last. Martha laughed at the energetic Time Lord and mouthed “child” to Rose behind his back before sitting down on the couch nearest the tree next to Jack. Rose sat down a few feet away, with the Doctor sitting near her feet. Jack opened his present from Rose first to find a teddy bear with a captain’s hat, which he promptly threw at her good-naturedly and was only stopped from being whacked by a pillow in return by Martha, who put an arm out to wisely stop this from becoming an all-out pillow fight. She opened hers next, from Jack, and found a black t-shirt that said: “I’m the responsible one.”

“Well at least you know,” she laughed, “Thanks, Jack.” The Doctor opened his from Martha to find, to his delight, banana bread, and a plastic “Top Banana” trophy. 

“Martha Jones,” he told her happily, bounding up to his feet to walk over and hug her, “You are my second favorite person in the whole universe.”

“The first being yourself,” Rose remarked dryly, causing Jack to spit the water he’d been drinking everywhere before doubling over in laughter. 

“What?” the Doctor sputtered in surprise, “Rose, it’s you!”

“I know that you daft alien, I’m teasing.”

“Oh.” 

After this exchange, Jack handed Rose the Doctor’s present, and she took a moment to marvel at the fact that a nine-hundred-and-three-year-old Time Lord was actually bouncing from one foot to the other in nervous anticipation. He reminded her more and more of a puppy every day.

She opened the well-wrapped blue-and-silver box to find a smaller rectangular black box inside. She sent a slightly amused look up at the Doctor before removing the smaller box and taking the lid off. Inside she found a near-identical replica of his sonic screwdriver, except for the end, which was now pink instead of blue, and the silver was gold-ish tint instead. And, on top of all that, there was now a golden rose carved into the handle. Rose felt her eyes fill with tears at the gesture.

“Do you like it?” the Doctor asked hopefully. Rose launched herself off the couch to hug him inway of response, and Martha laughed at his muffled “I’m guessing that’s a yes.”

“Doctor, I love it!” Rose exclaimed before kissing him soundly for a few seconds. They broke apart, however, at Jack and Martha’s simultaneous exclamations of “awwwwwww” to glare at the two grinning offenders.

“You guys sure adapted to the sibling role quickly,” the Doctor grumbled as Rose led him back to the couch.

“Sorry, you’re stuck with us now,” Jack said smugly. 

“Unfortunately, yes. But that also means I can do this!” Rose exclaimed, nailing Jack in the face with a pillow. 

And, well, it’s not like anyone had anything else to do that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's going to be one more chapter in this fic and then I'm going to end it, but keep posting stuff for this au in the series. I'm doing this because I can't keep any kind of a posting schedule and want to work on some other things.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	16. *NOT A CHAPTER*

Hey guys!

I am, in fact, alive. And I meant to write this chapter at some point. 

To be honest, life got crazy. Between my robotics team wining 1st place at state and advancing to the World Championship, and school, and my grandma getting dementia, I really didn't have time to write. 

And then, during the time we were at World's, I went to see Avengers: Endgame and my somewhat dormant Marvel passion re-kindled, and I lost a lot of interest in Doctor Who. 

 

I plan to finish this...I just don't know when I will be able to. Thank you for being great readers and for all the amazing comments, I really appreciate it.

**Author's Note:**

> So I'll try to update once a week and thank you for reading! Also plz comment it's like writer fuel.


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